Full Coverage: Poverty

09.05.2008 Diverting agricultural land to produce biofuels, increased dependence on imports, hoarding by traders, ban on export of food grains by neighbours are reasons cited for rising food prices in Nepal. Experts feel the government needs to take long-term measures if it wants to save people dying of hunger.

09.05.2008 South Africa will host the World Cup in 2010 so construction – and corruption – is booming. But almost none of the building or the money can be accessed by the poor who live in shantytowns without proper water, sanitation or electricity. These inequalities could be a major issue in the 2009 presidential election, says Philippe Rivière.

08.05.2008 The global food crisis is unraveling economic advances made in recent years by large sections of the poor working classes of Latin America, reports a U.S.-based ethnic media organization.

08.05.2008 WASHINGTON, May 8 (OneWorld) - More than 800 development and human rights activists are gathering here this week, developing and calling on Congress to implement new strategies to tackle world poverty and hunger.

08.05.2008 Innovative local initiatives are strengthening rural regions throughout Mexico, which have been losing both people and their competitive edge in agriculture since Mexico opened its markets to free trade.

08.05.2008 Afghanistan government with UN help will soon carry out a study to assess the nutritional needs of people affected by rising food prices for future interventions. The country has large numbers of stunted, underweight and wasted children, and women in reproductive age suffering from malnourishment.

07.05.2008 UN Security Council needs to discuss the current global food crisis and take corrective measures before the situation goes out of hand. Experts feel that the UN body must recognise that war and civil strife cannot be prevented without addressing social and economic conditions.

06.05.2008 The United States should repeal restrictions on humanitarian assistance to Burma and help those affected by Cyclone Nargis, said an international refugee agency yesterday, higlighting the "tremendous need inside Burma."

06.05.2008 India's National Rural Employment Guarantee Act has increased the bargaining power of the poor, felt participants at a recent consultation by Indian anti-poverty network WNTA in the capital. They also called for increased investment by the government for effective monitoring of the scheme.

06.05.2008 Soaring prices of food items are making it difficult for poor countries to achieve the Millennium Development Goals by 2015. Any long-term planning has to focus on MDGs and cross-sectoral linkages with adequate budgets if governments wish to tide over the present crisis, says Salil Shetty, Director of the UN Millennium Campaign.

05.05.2008 Peasants' and other grassroots organizations are promoting change in Haiti, write two agricultural activists who paid a visit to the Caribbean island, where they found food scarcity, environmental damage, and general insecurity are widespread.

05.05.2008 Hot weather and lack of safe drinking water have led to a severe spate in diarrohea cases in Bangladesh. According to health experts, poverty, rising food prices and low levels of awareness on sanitation are driving people to eat cheap contaminated food.